There are so many reasons I can’t get enough of abom dishes. My favourite reason is, it’s just magical. The freshness and depth of the dish gives an inner joy. A peace that can only be associated with soul food. There are so many ways you can cook this delicacy. With minimal ingredients like onion, pepper, garden eggs, and oil garden eggs can be made abom. If you are like me who wants more than just than just food, then this recipe is for you.
For this recipe I tried to pair the abom with oven grilled mackerel, cooked kobi (salted tilapia fish) and avocado. In the end it is more of choice than which tastes better. The recipe also offers flexibility in how you want your oil base to look and taste. Simply fry onion in your palm fruit oil with salted fish or go further to add chillies, garlic, herbs and even more eggs for an exotic abom. The recipe cooks under 30 minutes and needs only 10 minutes preparation time. In case you want to protein of choice like the oven grilled mackerel, all you need to cook is cook simultaneously. Note this, that the most important element in cooking abom is salt. It just need to be the right quantity to bring all the other components of the dish together.
Kwawu Nsusua & Garden eggs abom
4
servings10
minutes40
minutes50
minutesIngredients
15 pieces garden eggs
Spring onions
2 large onions
Chillies (green or red)
1 whole garlic
1 medium piece koobi (salted fish)
Salt
Palm fruit oil
Hand full Kwawu nsusua (Tiger berries)
1 avocado
2 table spoon full vegetable oil
Medium size yam
3 whole eggs
Curry leaves
Directions
- Clean and cut your garden eggs into two pieces. Arrange in a cooking pot with enough water. You may cut into into 4 or more pieces.
- Add cleaned and washed kobo (salted fish) pieces. I would usually cut the head unto 2 to add cleaning of all extra salt.
- Add Kwawu nsusua (turkey berries) and cook for 8 minutes
- Whist we wait for the garden eggs to cook, let’s prepare the base. Grind some green and red chilli using an Asanka. You may opt to use just one type of chilli but life is move colourful when it’s the rainbow.
- Add one whole onions and half glove garlic. I love using garlic and sometimes I could go over board. Use as much garlic as you desire or you can omit from the recipe.
- Add spring onions and grind in. This adds freshness to the recipe. You can omit as well and your abom base will still be perfect.
- Add your cooked garden eggs and koobi (salted fish) to your base. Salt to taste. Note that your koobi would still have salt. Only add extra salt after the koobi.
- I love eating abom with cooked yam, plantain or cocoyam. So when my base is ready, just before I prepare the oils for garnishing, would wash and cut my yam into pieces. Oh Yes. This time with the yam skin. Ensure to wash it thoroughly to remove any dirt hidden in the skin. Again add a piece of Kobi (salted fish). This is for garnishing hence optional. Cooking it with the yam, just adds a whole new flavour level to the yam. Add salt to taste. However be minding of the salt quantity when cooking it with koobi. This will cook for 15 minutes.,
- Prepare your mackerel for grilling by cutting mackerel into pieces if choice. Wash thoroughly. Marinate with a mixture of blended mix chilli garlic ginger oil and salt for 5 minutes
- Grill for 10 minutes on medium heat
- Now to our oil, add stinking fish to your oil in a saucepan
- Add cut onions
- Add cut chilli, garlic, curry leaves and cook for 3 minutes
- Add beaten eggs to oil base. Cover and cook for 4 minutes. Oil base is ready.
- Now assembly all the components into a beautiful dish.
- Replace oven grilled mackerel with avocado cuts
